Who's Your Favorite TV Dad?

[Kimmer]

In honor of Father's Day....equal time for the TV dads!!

Name your favorite and tell us why you chose him!!

[Larry's 66 Diner]

Hey, Kimmer, where's the poll? ;D

[Kimmer]

I didn't make it an official poll, I just left it like the Mother's Day one. There are sooooo many people to choose from that I figured people coulde just name their own favorite. I could do a regular poll tho....let me know!!

[Midge]

Robert Young from Father Knows Best. He always seemed so warm and kind. First runner-up: Ozzie Nelson from Ozzie and Harriet. He was as comfortable as a pair of well-worn slippers. Second runner-up: Hugh Beaumont from Leave it to Beaver. He was the quintessential nice guy kind of dad. No matter how much trouble you got into, you knew that Ward Cleaver would always forgive you.

I guess you can tell that I was a child of the 1950's.

[Roger Thornhill]

I can't recall many famous patriarchs from TV programmes. But my clear favourite is John Mahoney as Martin Crane the long suffering father of Frasier and Niles in the Frasier series. He played the part perfectly and was a wonderful foil for the pretentious and often downright pompous nature of his sons.

[annavandenhazel]

Hmmmm - I don't really have one favorite, but here are the first 3 that come to mind:

Andy Griffith on The Andy Griffith Show

Fred McMurray on My 3 Sons

Flip Wilson on the short-lived sitcom "Charlie & Co." in the mid-80's. (Gladys Knight played his wife, and it's a shame it didn't last a full year)

[Larry's 66 Diner]

Anna, why didn't I think of that?

Andy Griffith on The Andy Griffith Show should certainly rank as one of the top dad's on TV! :thumbsup:

[Kimmer]

In an official poll, the #1 TV dad was "Charles Ingalls" ("Little House on the Prairie") played by Michael Landon....

[tclion]

I like Charles Inglis but he is not my fav Dad.. I think my fva dad would have to Be Andy Taylor. He seemed very down to earth and quite level headed even in times of fame and fortune

[Beanka]

oh, yes i would say michael london also. I watched him on tv all the time.

[hallway]

Ward Cleaver. Ward was firm with Wally and the Beav, but he wasn't mean. He lectured, but never spoke down to them. He was a teacher, not a dictator. Best of all... He was a dad... Not just a Father.

If I had kids, I would want to be just like him. (FYI: Hugh Beaumont, who played Ward, in real life was a Methodist minister)

[gina1975]

I don't know if I can choose ONE favorite. I like Charles Ingals (Michael Landon) of LITTLE HOUSE... because of his compassion and understanding, I like Martin Crane (John Mahoney) of FRASIER for his sense of humor and reasoning, and Dan Connor (John Goodman) of the series ROSEANNE because he was just your average “Joe” who would do all he could for his family and mess up from time to time. He also reminds me mostly of my own Dad.

[addie]

Barney Rubble was great with Bamm-Bamm, every time Bammers broke something, Barney was so proud, so supportive. I'm going with Barney Rubble.

addie

[tinyhippy]

I liked the dad from The Wonder Years (played by Dan Lauria). He was gruff and strict but deep down he was really just always concerned for his family getting along. I really liked his character.

[dvdjunkie]

Two fathers that are polar opposites are among my favorites (more than ten and less than 20):

Robert Young from Father Knows Best, I would like to have been in that family growing up.

William Bendix from Life of Riley, who can forget his waneful cry of "Peg, can you help me!!!"

There are a lot of other fathers that could be listed, but I thought of those two first.

Among my other favorites are Lorne Green as Ben Cartright (Bonanza), Walter Brennan as Grandpa McCoy (The Real McCoys), and the aforementioned Hugh Beaumont who was The Beaver's dad.